Attorney criticizes grand juror

Erica D. Johnson

Monday, Oct. 6, 2003 | 9:21 a.m.

A defense attorney for one of the alleged 311 Boyz said a member of the grand jury that indicted his client had a history of unethical behavior before the vote that charged his client.

James "Bucky" Buchanan said the cases involving the 311 Boyz were not the first time grand juror Ralph Smith displayed questionable behavior while serving on the grand jury.

In a case pending against Richard Andrew Dimare, Buchanan claims Smith engaged in inappropriate online chats with the 14-year-old alleged victim.

Dimare's attorney, William Terry, has filed a motion in that case to dismiss the charges against his client, listing Smith's alleged behavior as one of several reasons the indictment cannot stand.

Buchanan has asked that three indictments against Steven Gazlay, 18, be dismissed, claiming a letter Smith wrote to a newspaper regarding the 311 Boyz case shows Smith was not impartial when he decided to charge the teens in an attack on 17-year-old Stephen Tanner Hansen.

Smith also sat on the grand jury that indicted Gazlay on additional felony counts in two separate attacks in northwest Las Vegas.

In the Dimare case, Buchanan said the chats occurred during the same time Smith sat on the grand jury that charged Dimare with multiple felony charges, including using technology to lure a child and statutory sexual seduction.

Prosecutors say Dimare, a local insurance agent, used a computer to seduce the girl. The grand jury indicted him on the charges in July.

Had Smith been excused from the grand jury as a result of his actions in that case, Buchanan said, the improprieties involving his client would have never occurred.

"This is a loose cannon who was acting improperly," Buchanan said of Smith. "At that point he should have been removed."

In the motion, filed last week, Terry also referenced the cases involving the 311 Boyz.

"The improper actions of Grand Juror Smith seem to be a pattern," he wrote. "The pattern of improper actions exhibited by Grand Juror Smith was obvious and certainly must have been noticed by the State of Nevada."

Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Laurent, who is handling Gazlay's cases and also oversees the grand jury, denied that Smith acted improperly in either situation.

Laurent filed an opposition to Buchanan's motion last week.

As the case against Dimare was being presented to the grand jury, Laurent said, Smith recognized the alleged victim's screen name and realized that he had chatted online with her before.

At that time Smith informed Laurent of the potential conflict and decided not to deliberate the case, Laurent said. He said the discussion was outside the presence of other grand jurors.

"There were no improprieties," Laurent said. "He did the appropriate thing and he advised the attorney. He did not participate in deliberations."

Grand juries function to determine whether there is probable cause to charge a defendant with a crime. Grand jury proceedings in Clark County are secret.

Buchanan said Smith expressed bias toward his client in a letter that was published in the Review-Journal on Sept. 8.

The letter calls the teens charged in the attack on Hansen "spoiled, self-absorbed rich kids who thought they were above the law." Smith also wrote "it would be appalling to see these white gang members get off easy."

Clark County District Attorney David Roger has confirmed that the Ralph Smith who sat on the grand jury is the same man who wrote the letter.

The grand jury later indicted Gazlay on a single count of battery with use of a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm in connection with the burning of another teen with a hot butter knife.

The jury also indicted him on one count each of battery with use of a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm and assault with use of a deadly weapon in a separate incident in which he is charged with beating two teens with a crowbar.

Buchanan says all three indictments should be dismissed.

Laurent said grand jury indictments can only be dismissed if the entire panel was not picked appropriately or if it is discovered that a juror does not meet the qualifications to serve on a grand jury, for instance, he or she is an ex-felon or is not over 18.

None of those things applied in the cases involving the 311 Boyz, Laurent said.

"Absent that, there are no grounds to challenge a grand jury," he said.

In addition, Laurent said, 12 or more grand jurors must return a true bill indicting a defendant.

In the case relating to the attack on Hansen the vote to charge the teens was 16-0, with one juror abstaining, Laurent said.

The vote to charge Gazlay in the butter knife case was 13-1 with one juror abstaining. The vote to charge Gazlay in the crowbar attack was 14-0, with one juror abstaining, Laurent said.

Because grand jury transcripts are made public following the indictment, a judge could easily determine that there was no prejudice involved in the procedure, Laurent said.